Undercover Houston Bike Cops Bust Dangerous Drivers

Houston has a thriving bicycle culture, but ranks among one of the least safe places to ride in the country according to the Alliance for Biking and Walking. Fast Company is reporting on a new program to catch dangerous drivers in the act, and bring cycling fatalities in the city to “Goal Zero.”

“We asked them to put police officers in plain clothes on bicycles with support in the area, so if someone did pass them too closely, they could call on their support to pull over that driver and issue a citation,” explains Mike Payne, executive director of BikeHouston, the organization that originally went to the mayor’s office with the idea. “They just started running special missions, if you want to call them that, where they send people out to different neighborhoods to do this. And they start writing citations and warnings.”
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Payne hopes that policies like these will turn Houston into a cycling mecca. The city is flat, he points out, and has wide streets–ideal for riding bikes.

No word on the actual number of citation issued yet. Read the original article at www.fastcoexist.com

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